Amazon holiday shipping, Christmas Eve deliveries set record

Amazon says it shipped a record number of items worldwide for the holidays, with Christmas Eve the biggest day ever for deliveries using the company's Prime Now service.

Amazon.com has been a prime beneficiary of holiday shoppers going online or procrastinating.

Amazon says it shipped a record number of items worldwide for the holidays, with Christmas Eve the biggest day ever for deliveries using the company's Prime Now service.

The service offers free two-hour delivery to more than 20 metropolitan areas, up from just Manhattan, where the service launched last year.

The company's Amazon Prime service, a loyalty program that includes unlimited free two-day shipping, gained 3 million new members in the third week of December alone. Amazon says Prime members shopping via mobile more than doubled.

The Seattle company did not disclose the actual number of items shipped. A report it just issued outlines trends and percentage changes in shipments, rather than sales figures.

“A divorce could reshape the global wealth ranking. If the couple split their fortune equally, it could leave wife MacKenzie with $69 billion, making her world’s richest woman. It could also make Microsoft's Bill Gates the planet’s richest person once again,” reported Bloomberg. Amazon founder Bezos was dating Lauren Sanchez, a 49-year-old ex-news anchor.